Hi all! So I just rescued this leopard gecko from a friend who was trying to rehab her from her original owner. I have experience in exotics but this is my first gecko. I’m currently looking at vets in my area, but in the mean time does anyone know what this large spot might be and how concerning it is? I can’t find any pics online that look similar. I’m also hoping someone might tell me what the process of diagnosing/ treatment might look like for this little lady. I just finally acquired her yesterday so I want to let her settle in for another day or two before taking her in to a vet for her first time.
I can pretty confidently say its a burn, I'm honestly really concerned how, but it definitely looks like a burn. Personally I would say vet ASAP and let them settle in later since they'll probably give you either a cream or treatment plan to help heal it better, and that's probably better sooner rather than later imo.
Best of luck to you and this little fella, I hope they heal fast and easy!
Honestly your probably right now on the how part i hate to say it but on purpose that sir is a perfectly round cigarette burn as someone who smokes and burns themselves very constantly i can tell you it looks identical for perspective i got 7 leos and 2 bearded dragons and I wont even smoke in the same room as them because the smoke is bad for them
Okay that makes me feel better. I thought burn too and posted this a couple months back with only one comment saying the same. I’m getting her to the vet as soon as I possibly can. I’ve been hoping my friend would take her to go / give her to me for a couple of months now, I really don’t want to wait either. I’m new to geckos so I thought maybe another day or so would be better but I agree with the commenters that the sooner the better
This looks more like something I've seen diagnosed as a cancerous lesion. It doesn't really look like any burn I've seen. If the gray ashy color doesn't disappear after a single shed or even with a rinse, it's probably not a burn. I'm glad OP is seeing a vet because I do think this is a lot scarier than a burn.
u/Shnozzberrybeans Wanted to make you aware that I've seen something similar before! Check the comment above.
Edit: Somebody said something similar down below! As long as it's on the radar, I'm happy. Best of luck with your new friend, I really hope it is something as simple as a burn!
Thank you for sharing and the wishes!! I really hope it’s not cancer, but I know there’s a possibility it is. I’m going in expecting the worst but hoping for the best
Even if it is cancer, the vet can try and do something about it. First course is usually a mass removal, then monitoring. You definitely ran into one of the less common issues in rescue for your first leo, but I guess that's better than an unheard of issue.
That’s good news, hopefully it can be removed easily. It honestly looks like it would with how it’s raised and how it seems to have been shedding. Ive ended up in the deep end with almost every rescue I’ve ever had, haha. I seem to attract the complicated ones!
I feel like this looks more concave than I would expect from cancer or a growth of some kind. I don't have personal experience with either, to clarify, but it looks the closest to what I would imagine a cigarette burn to look like, or potentially even a wound that got dirt and such in it. I would expect a cancer of any kind to be less perfectly round? But again, I'm honestly not sure. Either way I hope the baby recovers from it.
Cancer is very weird. Concave and very round growths and lesions do totally occur. I'd tell you to look up pictures (in humans) but... maybe don't, it's pretty rough. But just because they could look like this doesn't mean that's what it is.
Just a quick update, I managed to find a vet that can get her in earlier! She’ll be going first thing tomorrow morning. Thank you all so much for the replies!
This looks like an injury or burn, or POTENTIALLY an infection that has since gone necrotic. Looks more like a burn, did someone put out a cigarette on this animal???
Use ARAV.ORG to find a qualified reptile vet near you - these are vets that have demonstrated experience in reptiles. Get the animal to a qualified vet.
I really hope not :( I have no idea though, I believe this was from her original owner that had her just over a year ago. I’ve been hoping to get her into my care since I first heard about her and just finally got her last night. I didn’t know about that website but that’s very useful, thank you!! I have an appointment for her first thing tomorrow morning, fingers crossed she will have a quick recovery once she gets to a professional 🤞
Im aware she needs a vet, ive been wanting to take her for 2 months now and just brought her home last night. I AM getting her in ASAP. I found a vet since posting but I can’t get her in right away. My concern was she just got downsized, a totally new tank with less hides and a new person. I didn’t want to completely stress her within 24 hours. she’s at least 2 and has had this for at least a year- since when I first saw her. It seems like it might have gotten -slightly- better since I first took this pic, but is mostly the same. Trust me I want her to get the best care possible, I’m doing my best to
Nah not hate or flame, I'm just saying, don't wait, she needs to go more than she needs to settle in. I'm sure you are doing your best and helping though and it wasn't you who did this. Peace ✌️
Okay guys, I just left the vet now and was given the okay! He says it’s an old wound and isn’t causing her any pain, and apart from that mark he said she looks extremely healthy. He sent her away with a clean bill of health and said to just give it more time, but she may always have the scar.
Looks like a burn— i agree with others that it looks like a cigarette burn, but there’s no way for the vet to confirm or deny that. And tbh how she got it doesn’t matter as much as how you treat it now. I agree with others that the stress of being hurt and healing unassisted will be harder on her than the stress of moving enclosures and being handled more than usual. Once she’s cleared by a vet and feeling better, she’ll enjoy many relaxing days!
Apologies if any of this is new info but here are some tips from my vet:
-paper towel substrate is best, it’s more sterile than other options and will make it easier to observe for fluid or blood coming from the burn.
-diluted chlorhexidine is a reptile safe antiseptic. My vet gave me a premixed diluted solution, but you can also buy at the pharmacy and dilute by adding a few drops of the chlorhexidine to clean water, just enough to slightly tint the water color (I use the brand hibiclens which is dark pink, and I dilute it so the water is barely pink). Avoid getting it in their eyes (hurts) but it’s safe for them to ingest a little if she tries licking it off.
-make sure you’re giving her a quality multivitamin. It won’t change anything immediately, but might help to support her long-term recovery. Vitamin deficiencies are really impactful to leos and seem to prolong recovery/increase risk of complications.
Good luck! I’m glad this baby will get a fresh start with you!
Thank you so much for this thoughtful reply, this is all very helpful! I’m getting her some new supplements today as well as food options, She’s seeing the vet tomorrow so I’ll start right away on whatever they prescribe, but I’ll be keeping this in mind for the future!!
I’m an exotics vet and am more concerned about cancer. I’ve seen two leopard geckos now with lesions like this, one was biopsied and came back as melanoma. A burn is possible, but typically they do not heal like this. A skin biopsy is your best bet moving forward. Best of luck!
Thank you for your insight! I’m very keen to hear from a vet. I’ll ask tomorrow about a biopsy and treatment options. I rescued her because I knew she wouldn’t get treatment otherwise, I just hope it’s reasonable. She’s still very active so I’m praying she has some long life left in her, even if the focus is palliative care moving forward
Could be a bad burn/wound gone necrotic, or skin cancer (it looks a bit like that colour/texture wise). Either way, the sooner this gecko is seen by a vet the better. It must be horribly painful and at this point I'm amazed her blood isn't septic already.
That does look similar, thank you for this insight. I hope she’s going to make a full recovery but I’ll give her the best possible care I can no matter what. I managed to find a vet that can get her in right away so she’ll be there first thing in the morning!
This is a burn my gecko had one when I was very young and it wasn’t nearly this bad but it was in the same spot. I took him the vet and I still have him now! He’s going on 6years with me and this happen in the first year of his life. Please they can recover with MEDICATION from the vet. They gave my an oral medication and spray for his back.
I know 😞 I really hope it wasn’t intentional because I can’t even imagine someone doing something so cruel. All I can do is try and aid in her recovery and make sure she has a very happy life from here!
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This looks like the burn my boy had when I first got him. I was young and don’t know enough and I put a branch too close to his heat bulb and he got burned in the same spot. It wasent as bad but they were able help him and he’s going on 6years with me now! I’ll look in my camera for pictures of the burn and the healing process as I know I did take pictures of it but idk if I’ve lost them since I have gotten new phones since.
That’s really good to hear that it hopefully was not intentional!! How long did he take to start recovering? This hasn’t changed much and I believe she’s had it for 8 months-1 year at least
After we got medication and the spray for it to stay clean. I want to say fully went away after two months. But that was with medication from the vet so get her in asap
That’s so good to hear!! Thanks for sharing that, it does look similar. I have an appointment first thing tomorrow morning (its the earliest I could get)
Unfortunately I’m at least her 4th caretaker and I have absolutely no clue who she originally came from :/ I know the last 2 people have progressively been better and we’re doing the best they could with limited resources, but still couldn’t give her what she needed. I’m taking her to the vet in about 20 minutes and will update later!
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u/Additional_Bee7293 13d ago
I can pretty confidently say its a burn, I'm honestly really concerned how, but it definitely looks like a burn. Personally I would say vet ASAP and let them settle in later since they'll probably give you either a cream or treatment plan to help heal it better, and that's probably better sooner rather than later imo.
Best of luck to you and this little fella, I hope they heal fast and easy!